Empire and Energy in the Middle East (HI3J1)

Module Convenor: Dr. Katayoun Shafiee

Email: K.Shafiee@warwick.ac.uk

Office Hours: Tuesdays (Teams) 11-12 and Fridays (in person) 12:30-1:30 pm or by appointment, FAB3.72

• Seminars and Readings (available via Moodle)
• Bibliography

The building of world energy systems in the modern era served as the occasion for some of the largest projects of technical and economic development in the latter half of the nineteenth and through the twentieth centuries. A vast global network of oil wells, pipelines, refineries, transoceanic shipping, dams, railroads, electricity and communications networks resulted from this enterprise. While everyone is aware of the importance of coal, oil, water, and electricity to the history of the modern Middle East, we know surprisingly little about how the social and technical properties of each form of energy have shaped that history. Conventional ways of writing social and political history treat technical problems of producing, processing, and selling forms of energy as practices that are external to the social world. Carbon-based fossil fuels and river-based hydro-power appear to have an “impact” on society, as simply natural resources that affect political systems, social and economic orders, and state formation from the outside while often blocking (especially with oil) the possibility for democratic forms of politics.

The origins of the first oil industry as well as the first large-scale hydro-electric dam in the Middle East reside in a little-known part of southwest Iran, now known as Khuzestan province, bordering the Persian Gulf. This final year module offers students the opportunity to make use of rich primary sources held in the BP Archive, US and British National Archives (company reports, governmental correspondences, newspapers, photography, and film), and World Bank Archives among many other sources in order to develop alternative accounts of the history of energy and empire in the Middle East. Focusing on the anatomy of different kinds of energy system, the students will follow the transformation of forms of energy (oil, water) through the machinery of operations (technical, legal, governmental, administrative), from the initial development of a particular industry (e.g. Anglo-Iranian oil industry) or large-scale infrastructure (e.g. the Dez Dam in Iran) in the early part of the twentieth century to the dramatic departure of British and/or American-controlled corporate entities as well as international institutions of economic and scientific governance, such as the World Bank, over fifty years later.

The module is designed to be attractive to students interested in the history of British and American empire in the Middle East as well as business history, international development, and the history of science and technology that draws on interdisciplinary thinking in Science and Technology Studies. It encourages students to rethink historical and political analysis by drawing connections between the political and historical forces through which large-scale infrastructures such as an oil industry or a large-scale dam have been shaped and the material and technical forces through which politics and history have been shaped.

Student Reviews:

• 'This module is endlessly fascinating and feels essential to understanding the world - it is the kind of learning for which I came to this University. The combination of primary sources, critical analysis of technology, and the critique of power through understanding infrastructure in southwestern Iran has transformed how I think about history. The module is academically challenging but endlessly engaging, so I don't feel lost or confused as I do in some other modules. I also appreciate how each week builds on the prior one, so there are overarching themes which are fleshed out over the 22 weeks rather than distinct topics each week.' - 2025/6 student
• 'One of the best modules at Warwick - Katayoun's expertise shows through and is helpful informing the history of oil in the Middle East.' - 2025/6 student

• 'The way in which it reframes topics in a way that very few other modules do, which means that even if the topic would originally appear familiar, it is given a new perspective. It also goes into a lot of detail and uses far more primary sources than most topics, which is really interesting!' - 2018/19 student

• 'The readings are very comprehensive and focused. Good variety and nice historiographical debate included.' - 2018/19 student

Principal Learning Outcomes:

* Demonstrate a systematic knowledge and understanding of the connection between political, technical, and economic interests and their significance for imperial history and the present situation in the Middle East.

* Critically analyse and evaluate a broad range of primary sources, including archival resources, relating to the history of large-scale energy-based infrastructures (oil and water) in the Middle East.
* Effectively communicate ideas, and make informed, coherent and persuasive arguments relating to the history of the oil industry and hydro-electric dams in the Middle East.
* Critically review and consolidate theoretical, methodological, and historiographical ideas relating to Science and Technology Studies, post-colonial political theory, international development, and the history of the energy in the Middle East.

Timetabled Teaching Activities:

• 18 x 2 hour seminars
• 4 x 1 hour essay preparation and feedback

Assessment Methods

This module centres on an analysis of extensive primary source material. It is assessed by seminar contribution (10%), one 1,500 word essay (10%), one 3,000 word source based essay (40%), and one 3,000 word essay (40%). Please note that there is no final examination.

You may take the seminar questions as essay titles (subject to approval by the module convenor), to analyse a primary source, review a secondary source, or conduct a literature review. Essays should be submitted via Tabula.

See the Departmental Style GuideLink opens in a new windowon how to format your work and the History Department UG Student Handbook on avoiding PLAGIARISM.

For deadlines and submission details, see Tabula.

• Oral participation/engagement (10%)
• 1500 word essay (10%) Deadline: TERM 1
• 3000 word source based essay or equivalent (40%) Deadline: TERM 2
• 3000 word essay (40%) Deadline: TERM 3